Justice
by Omniflyer
Summary: [Complete] Enter a time when Alchemy has risen and the world is falling...
1. Divinity

**Warning:** I felt like getting really dark with this one, so it's going to be a _way_ different theme from my normal comedic, happy adventure fics. You probably haven't seen something like this from me, so be warned! I'm making no guarantees here! This is dark, so **stay far away if you don't like dark fics.** This will be a short fic, only a few chapters. If you still want to, read on.

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The time: Six months after the rising of the Golden Sun.

The place: New Vale.

The situation: Critical.

What was it that they feared beyond all? That Conservato was so worried about, that he would eventually be right about?

The world _can't handle Alchemy's release_.

Did they save the world? Or did they condemn it? The streets of New Vale are a metaphor for the world of Weyard. It's new, just as the world itself is new, bathed and saved by the light of the Golden Sun, technically able to exist forever.

But it is crawling with thieves, bandits and murderers. With liars, cheats and con men. The streets of the reborn city are plagued with a disease.

The disease of greed, and unchecked lust.

They try to protect it, of course. The eight of them that saved the world, they try to protect everyone as best they can, but the Golden Sun rose with unexpected results. Being made of pure Alchemy, it _absorbed_ all Psynergy in the land to sustain itself at its birth, and since then perpetually sustained itself, but the damage was done at its creation. For not only did it draw power from the beacons to exist, it drew all power from all Adepts worldwide, sapping their powers. All Adepts became normal people.

All except for eight.

The eight who had been present for at least two of the lighting of the beacons, and many of them, for all four. The eight, who, because of the Elemental Flares (that is, the term given to the event of the beacons being lit), had an excess of Psynergy in their bodies, and did not lose everything.

The only eight in the world, in all of Weyard, to still have Psynergetical power. The last gift of the blood of the ancient Adepts. They use it for justice now, to protect their friends, family, loved ones.

The situation still looks worse and worse with every passing day. No matter how strong they are, how fast they travel, how much they fight... they are being worn down. Then their city collapses, their home is destroyed.

That, being something they cannot lose.

"Behind you!" Garet cried, swinging in a wide arc after dodging a sword stab from a bandit. Luna shone from above, delivering sub-par light, but it was enough to see the enemy, the numerous bandits and thieves that were all too common at night in the streets of New Vale. At Garet's words, Isaac turned hard, jumping around and barely dodging a lateral slice that would have torn his head off his shoulders. He ducked low, and Mia took the opportunity to swing over his crouching body with her staff to deal a debilitating blow to the bandit's thin frame. He fell hard, and stumbled to his feel before Ivan arrived and pinched his neck, causing him to fall unconscious.

"This is getting really annoying," Jenna growled ominously, her staff at the ready, dodging and countering attacks coming at her from random directions, occasionally lighting the night sky with the fury of Mars Psynergy directed at some nuisance bandit. "Why can't they just _stay dead?_" Felix grimaced, while parrying skillfully.

"Probably because we _aren't killing them_," Felix said between breaths.

"Maybe we should..."

Sheba ducked under an incoming swipe and swung her staff. "Probably a bad time for a philosophical discussion," she grumbled. Jenna bit her lip, but didn't answer.

Picard cast a Diamond Dust to freeze some bandits into submission. They fell unconscious, and the other bandits who were remaining fled, scared for their lives, scared of the powers.

The Adepts congregated again, looking at their ragtag number. Jenna's eyes flittered over Isaac's arm, dripping red.

"You're cut," she noted.

"It's nothing," he replied, the golden glow of Venus flowing over his arm. When it remained, the only sign of anything wrong with his arm was the reddish tinge of his sleeve. Mia inspected his arm carefully, then stood back, satisfied with the amateur healing efforts.

"It's enough," Jenna complained. "Why are we still doing this?" Garet eyed her cautiously.

"Doing what?"

"Fighting the same battles over and over again," she sighed impatiently. "We do the same thing night in and night out. I'm tired of it."

"It's not... so bad," Picard said, trying to keep from being persuaded otherwise. Jenna stomped her foot and clenched her fists.

"It is so!" she burst. "And no amount of your saying it's okay, and that it's fine will change that, Picard! Every night, the same thing," she exclaimed, a tear welling up in her eye. She went on, hoping nobody could see it in the darkness. "Every night, bandits, thieves, murderers, they all show up! And every night we knock them out. Ivan and Sheba carry them out of the city with Wind Psynergy. They wake up, refreshed for the next night and _come back_." She bowed her head, overwhelmed by fatigue and the feeling of hopelessness. "It'll never change. And in the meanwhile, there are... there's more and more of them coming, because more people see it as all right to gain power and possession!" Felix shifted awkwardly, while Picard merely took his own head in his hands.

"Conservato was more right than he thought," he said softly. "It's not just the people trying to gain alchemy, people have gone insane for anything and everything."

"The world is dying," Mia said softly, teary-eyed. "And it's our fault." Ivan shook his head furiously.

"It is not!" he cried. "We _saved _the world, but people just don't see that yet!" Jenna snorted.

"Of course, it's not our fault, it's never our fault, we're perfect and sinless and _completely hypocritical!_" she shrieked. Garet moved over to her slowly and took her in a deep embrace. She sobbed into his shoulder, but didn't say anything else.

"We're falling apart," Sheba said softly. "It's too much to bear. It's just too much..." Isaac reached deep into his pocket, the pocket that could hold a nearly unlimited number of items, and withdrew, slowly, the Tomegathericon, the legendary Book of Summoning Arts.

"There is one way," he said slowly and softly. "We have this." Mia swayed slowly.

"So what can we do?" she said, on the verge of sobbing. "Summon our own monsters? Sends them out instead of us, so people just die instead of live?" She started shaking her head in disgust, her stomach twisting and healer's heart breaking at the thought. "We don't have that right..." Isaac moved to her and put a hand on her shoulder. She stopped shaking her head, and he moved his hand to her face, brushing the hair from her eyes so she could see him properly.

"Everything will be all right," he said soothingly. "I have one idea." Trusting him completely, be it from experience or naïvity, she nodded. Isaac opened the ancient tome and flipped through the pages slowly, in case they ripped and tore from age. Jenna slowly moved from Garet's shoulder, and by the time she made her way to him, he stopped on a page.

"What are you doing?"

"This," he replied, pointing. Picard leaned over and read off the page.

"Divinity, Archangel. Is that necessary?" he wondered. Isaac looked around the group.

Felix was calm and collected as always, but his eyes were dull and he was looking around anxiously, as though expecting the shadows themselves to attack him. Garet was trembling visibly, and Jenna was sobbing. Mia was shaking terribly, trying to believe in him against all the horror of their last few months. Picard looked tired, his eyes now reflecting his age, with dark lines appearing under them across his face. And Sheba and Ivan... they were working still, preparing wind to carry the bandits outside New Vale. Outside again, until tomorrow night.

"Yes. Yes, it is."

Isaac held the tome before him, and the two Jupiter Adepts meandered over, both looking frazzled. "Archangels are tricky summons," Ivan said, trying to keep his voice as level as possible, though his weariness showed though, anyway. "Let us help you." Isaac nodded, and soon the others moved toward him in a circle, all willing to help him, to help end the pain and torment of what their lives had become. All the Adepts stood around in a circle, hand in hand, focusing their Psynergy and readying it for whenever Isaac needed it. Isaac started chanting the words in the Tomegathericon, the language ancient and foreboding. The words sent chills down Mia's spine, but still she stood, ready. Finally, Isaac outstretched his hands, and the Adepts all focused on them, the four Psynergy elements combining to his hands. Then Isaac snapped his hands up to the sky and light shot from it, blasting straight up and then arcing back down as though on a narrow parabola. It landed in the middle of the circle, and took shape. It formed itself into an archangel, soft and beautiful to see, but her eyes were cold. When she finally spoke, her voice was silky and venomous.

"Divinity," Isaac said softly. She looked at him calmly.

"My _name_ is Divinity. I _am_ Justice."


	2. Ascension

"You may call yourself what you wish, or address yourself in title however you see fit," Felix said calmly. "We still need you." Divinity's eyes moved over him, and then around the whole of the circle, calculating and swift, soft and deadly.

"What is it that you require of me?" she asked silkily. Isaac loosened his scarf around his neck and spoke, and only then did the other seven note the extreme fatigue in his voice.

"You are Divinity, the personification of Justice in a single being. As an archangel you are unswayed by the temptations of this world and, to a lesser extent than we are, unaffected by the ebb and flow of Alchemy," he stated, and Divinity said nothing to reply but simply nodded to show her acknowledgment. Some of the others raised quizzical eyebrows at him, wondering how Isaac knew all this and where he learned it, but none of them rose their voices to interrupt him. "This land is now under the influence of the risen Golden Sun, the entity that consists of Alchemy at its purest, cleanest state.

"The Golden Sun, being of pure Alchemy, is attractive to all who see it. It gathered Psynergy from all Adepts worldwide, some who have never even been to Vale and never heard of us, and some still who had understood their powers, only to have them taken away, unexpectedly.

"When Mount Aleph erupted three years ago, it scattered Psynergy stones across the world. Some struck living beings, causing them to rise and become sentient." Ivan's eyes narrowed.

"Tret and Laurel," he mumbled softly, exemplifying Isaac's remarks. Indeed, the trees Tret and Laurel in Kolima Forest became sentient beings once struck by Psynergy stones after the eruption, becoming living, thinking plants whose only desire was for the welfare of their forest.

"Monster attacks increased as random animals were struck by Psynergy, their bodies becoming twisted into monsters. I..." his voice faltered. He looked away from Divinity for the first time since they summoned her and looked at his hands. "These hands have slain many of them.

"Some people were struck by Psynergy stones, too. Those that were hit displayed abilities in Psynergy, becoming some sort of Adepts, themselves." This time it was Mia's turn to understand.

"Feizhi," she whispered slowly, recalling the time they'd met on Silk Road and remembering how Master Hama mentioned that she'd passed Reveal onto her.

"The land became flooded with Psynergy," Isaac continued, apparently oblivious to the soft interruptions around him, "and people had to adapt to accept it. The Adepts loved their abilities, accepting it as a heaven-sent gift, and they went to work developing their powers, slowly but surely. The animals that had become monsters occasionally attacked towns and travelers, and the people that were not Adepts had to learn to fight properly in order to protect themselves.

"But for the new Adepts, that's a paradise that cannot exist. Just as Tret's heart became infected by his own rage, turning him to hatred and evil, many of the new Adepts found themselves becoming angry at one thing or another, and their hearts soured, as well. They became meaner, crueller and, not necessarily evil, but certainly darker in nature.

"And then," he sighed again, his voice sounding more and more resentful and depressed at the same time, "_we_ had to interfere. To light the Elemental Lighthouse beacons and call forth the Golden Sun. And when it did, the world was not a paradise, as we could have hoped in our myopic little vision of the future. The Golden Sun rose and absorbed all Psynergy in the land, except for those of us who were too close to Elemental Flares.

"Adepts worldwide now had to live without their newfound gifts. It was like giving a baby a toy and then taking it away from him. None of them could handle it. So they whined and moaned for awhile, and then took it out on each other.

"For awhile, riots occurred in various cities. Unable to attain their Psynergetical power again, many of them settled for material wealth, that fleeting power. So massive amounts of thieves and plunderers, and murderers who couldn't steal what they wanted peacefully, came to be." Jenna stifled a small sob as best she could, with Garet's head down and him rubbing his hand across her shoulder for support. To live this story was bad enough, but to hear it again struck an entirely different chord. Isaac forced himself to retell it, hopefully for the last time.

"And then, some of the people in Vault started noticing the Golden Sun here, and some felt drawn by its Alchemical aura. And so, some came here, and as word spread, more former Adepts begging for their lost power flock here, desperate for another chance at what they once had. The Golden Sun won't give them their powers back, but they don't know that, and they won't listen to us when we try to tell them so.

"The thievery happens almost continually, the murders are rampant. We're killing ourselves," Isaac stated sadly, a note of guilt in his voice. "We need you, Divinity. We truly do."

To say the majestic archangel was touched would have been a downright lie. With no more than a blink, she asked levelly, "What is it you wish me to do?" Even Felix was taken back by her coldness, but he refrained from saying anything. He caught Picard's eye and the two shared a worried glance, but neither moved.

"Help us protect ourselves from... ourselves, really," Isaac concluded. "You are Justice. That is what the world needs right now." Divinity nodded her head smoothly and slowly took to the air, hovering above the Adepts so she could move to combat the felonies Isaac had spent so much time speaking of.

Suddenly, Mia called to her, "Wait!" The incarnation stopped and turned to look at her. "Let us go with you first, so you'll know what we need done." Garet stared at her, wide-eyed, as though expecting that it should be obvious that a being of pure Justice should know what to do in matters related to justice, but the summoned creature nodded her head and waited patiently for a leader.

Felix looked over at Isaac and noticed the bags under his eyes. He moved over and rested a hand on his shoulder. "You're exhausted," he noted. "You're in no condition to fight right now. Go home and sleep, and come back out in the morning." Isaac looked at him with weary eyes. He opened his mouth to argue, but Felix cut him off. "Go, and don't come back until the sun is up." Isaac chuckled quietly.

"That damned sun _is_ up," he said, gesturing at the Golden Sun. "That's why we're so screwed up in the first place." Felix, having no answer, left it at that. Isaac turned on his heel and started heading for home, Mia quickly turning and moving to walk alongside him.

"Just in case there's trouble," she said in passing to Picard.

"_Sure_," Picard replied, with a rare smile that the Adepts hadn't seen much of in passing weeks. The two followed a path north, into the city. Felix looked over at Divinity.

"Well, then," he said, trying to shift into his leader mode as smoothly as possible. "I guess we should head for the plaza." Ivan nodded and Sheba opened her mouth, but the sound of smashing and falling glass cut her off. The archangel craned her head in the direction of the sounds.

"That way, I assume?" she posed. Picard sighed deeply, and nodded slightly. That was enough for her to pick up on, and she flew off, silently into the night, in the direction of the plaza. The six Adepts followed her on foot, trying to hurry but just too tired to really quicken their pace.

- - - - -

"Are you okay, Isaac?" Mia asked quietly. Her voice seemed small and distant, but she seemed stronger now than she had a few moments ago, before the summoning. Isaac looked at her, his eyes a dull blue, not the bright, shining azure that she had fallen in love with months ago. Still, they were his, and she felt for him all the same.

"I don't know, Mia. I really don't," he replied, his voice rough and deep. Mia clasped onto his arm and walked closer to him, her head resting on his shoulder.

"Things will be better in the morning," she said with as much confidence as she could muster. "Divinity will take care of some things, and you'll be rested and refreshe-"

"Bull," Isaac said harshly. "We've been praying for 'rested and refreshed' for months now, and you _know_ it never comes. We're just as tired after waking up as we are going to sleep because our dreams- our nightmares- are as fatiguing as real life." Tears stung at Mia's eyes, but she blinked them back.

"Please... believe," she said simply, craning her neck to look at him. Isaac glanced down into her eyes, and although they weren't as bright and clean as they were when they met, his heart still melted at seeing them, so he stopped walking and kissed her.

"I will," he said, starting to walk again. He broke off from Mia and turned left, across a bridge that broke off from the path. Mia blinked.

"Isaac... your home is this way," she said, gesturing forward along the path. Isaac stopped and looked at her, his gaze not meeting hers.

"I'm not going home right now," he replied. Mia sighed and lowered her gaze, but walked to keep up with him.

"You can't keep beating yourself up over this, Isaac," Mia said softly, the same words she'd repeated over and over for countless nights.

"I know, Mia... I know I can't," came the reply, as always.

"It's won't do you any good to visit his grave..."

- - - - -

A scream pierced the night air, coming just after a brilliant flash of white light that lit up the night sky, originating in the plaza. The six Adepts arrived there just in time to see a man, a thief, convulsing on the ground, rolling over and over, twitching violently, clawing at his head. Divinity stood over him, staring at him, a scowl over her soft expression, the first emotion they'd seen from her.

Garet was the first to approach, and by the time he'd walked over, the man was dead, unmoving. He looked around the plaza, and a chill feeling stuck in his heart. One, two, _three_... three more dead bodies, scattered in various parts of the plaza, laying in positions that clearly displayed a lingering, painful death, as they had just witnessed.

"What..." Picard said breathlessly. "What did you _do_?" he whispered. Divinity's acute archangel senses picked up on it.

"I sensed his mind. You used Jupiter powers, in part, to summon me, did you not?" she replied levelly, no regret or remorse in her voice. "I used that to probe his mind with a spell." Ivan recoiled, as did Sheba, scared at the damage inflicted, in part, by their Mind Read.

"Mind Read... doesn't do _that!_" Ivan exclaimed, shocked. Divinity's scowl lessened, and she regarded him with a mix of confusion and objectiveness.

"No, it doesn't. But a spell I possess does," she explained. "I simply use your ability to read his mind, and if he is guilty of any crimes, then in ultimate justice, he suffers for his own crimes in pain. The harsher the crime, the more he feels. In this case, his crimes were so many and so horrible that he died." Felix's fists were clenched, but he knew better than to pick a fight here.

"And what about him? And _him?! _And _him?!_" he cried, pointing at all the other slain men. Divinity shrugged her shoulders.

"They were guilty of transgressions of the law. They were punished."

"What was worthy of this?" Sheba asked quietly. Divinity looked at her curiously, as though the answer should be obvious.

"This one," she gestured to the man before them, "stole goods on four separate occasions. This would have been his fifth." They gaped at her.

"That's..." Jenna gasped. "Four thefts?! That's worth _death_?" Divinity shook her head.

"No, of course not," she answered. "He would have suffered fatal pain after one."

It was then the Adepts realized what they had summoned. An avatar of Justice that was not bogged down with compassion, with love and care. All she saw were things in black and white, no shades of grey in between, no special cases or 'what if' scenarios. One was either perfect in their soul and conscience, through their whole lives, having never broken a law or done harm to another...

...or one must die.


	3. Despair

"You're coming with me," Felix said bluntly, turning on his heel with his scarf lightly wavering behind him. Divinity's eyes narrowed.

"Why?" she wondered, her voice level. Felix stopped and looked at her.

"We don't kill people. As much as they may deserve it, it's against whatever scrap of humanity we can still salvage," he replied, his voice sharp and cold. "From now on, you listen to us. Someone will accompany you to every battle you participate in and you will not kill any whom you engage. You will incapacitate them, _only_." If Divinity disagreed with this strict manner of dealing with criminals, it was certainly not evident in her behaviour. She simply nodded curtly and hovered along behind him, her wings moving softly and stirring the air just such that the bodies of the dead men shook a little as she passed. Jenna shuddered and clenched her teeth, watching the eerie dance of the dead. She grabbed onto Garet's arm for support as she fought back waves of nausea within herself. He put a reassuring hand on her arm, but in truth, he was just as shaken as she was.

Sheba and Ivan exchanged looks darkly. What they had just played witness to was nothing more or less than cruel and savage. Guilty or not, a few thefts should not have been worth death. To expect perfection from someone who is merely human is to expect fish to fly among the mighty hawks and eagles. An impossibility, and a disappointment for those foolish enough to hope.

_I'm worried_, Ivan thought wearily. Sheba's mind joined with his, and the two shared a private conversation through Mind Read, far from the prying ears of the others.

_I know,_ she replied. _Divinity can help... maybe... but she's too-_

_She's entirely Justice._ Ivan thought, his mind unable to wait for Sheba to find the right words. _She is an Avatar of Justice, a being of pure and unspoiled righteousness. She can't understand that it isn't humanly possible to exist without committing wrong._

_Exactly,_Sheba replied, her mind reeling with possibilities of the future._ One day, she may come for us._

_I... I don't know. Maybe. I don't think so,_ Ivan said slowly and shakily. Sheba's voice answered unsurely.

_Why not? What makes us so special?_

_Because... I mean, we saved the world, didn't we? The whole world, that's got to be worth something,_he said, sounding stronger and more confident.

_Why should that matter, though? If all she cares about is what bad things you've done in your past, then whatever you did that was good wouldn't matter._ Sheba wrapped her arms around herself, holding herself tight for warmth and to deny the ever growing shivers that were starting to claim her. Ivan walked closer to her, putting an arm around her for support.

_We did summon her, too, you realize, _he added hopefully._She wouldn't be very likely to bite the hand that feeds her, would she?_ Sheba didn't answer, but took a long pause to think inwardly. After a few more steps, she raised her hand and placed it in Ivan's, gripping it tightly.

_I hope you're right..._

- - - - -

Isaac's mind raced, not forward, as his body must always travel through miserable time, but backwards.

"Of all the miserable, bloody weeks they had to visit," Isaac moaned softly. "Of all the Venus-damned stupid mistakes for me to make!" Mia looked at him with forlorn eyes, misty and grievous.

"_They're here already? Cripes, run for it!" Briggs cried, moving as quickly as possible down the wearing streets of New Vale. A group of sword-bearing thieves were all behind him, chasing him and his precious four-year old son Eoleo down. Briggs' pace was hindered because he was struggling to get a firm grip on the struggling and panic-stricken Eoleo, who thrashed in his arms, finally breaking free and falling to the ground._

The rushing of the river nearby was not enough of a noise to drown out Isaac's thoughts. Even with Mia, his frazzled but dedicated and true love beside him, holding onto him to give and draw support, his mind was clocked in overdrive, staring deeply at that simple grave, his heart overwhelmed. The Golden Sun nearby gave off just enough light that he could see it and read the inscription on it, simple, touching and saddening as it was.

'Eoleo Briggs

Lived 4 years_'_

"_Eoleo!" Briggs cried as his son broke free of his desperate grasp. "Get back here this instant!" The four year-old hit the ground softly, having fallen from a short height, and stumbled to his feet, tears welling in his eyes from fear. Surely these bad men wouldn't hurt _him_? He didn't understand! He started to run, trying to distance himself and those evil men, but they closed fast! Briggs was unarmed, but Isaac was nearby. Briggs called to him, and Isaac bounded over as quickly as possible with the Sol Blade unsheathed, ready to fight._

"It wasn't your fault," Mia said dejectedly. "It just wasn't. You can't blame yourself." Isaac kneeled down to the tombstone, his tired, jaded blue eyes scanning it, and his hand running over the words he himself chiseled in it one night when he was there alone.

'I'm sorry.

When I, too, join you in death one day, forgive me.'

_Sidestepping around Briggs and Eoleo (the little one having just retreated to his kneeling father's safe arms), Isaac slashed at one of the villains, who simply rose his own sword defensively, a perfect parry in execution. Isaac, not one to be deterred, used the momentum of the parry to swing his own sword around again with increased power. The man was more than able to use a sword, so he was able to protect himself from that, as well. What happened next was too quick for anyone to see properly, let alone prevent._

_The parry completed, the thief swung back at Isaac with immense might, his sword pushing Isaac back a meter, just beyond where Briggs was rising with Eoleo clutched against his chest. With that extra space granted from the force of the enemy's attack, Isaac decided to lunge at him with a stabbing motion, hoping he would find that more difficult to defend against with a sword. Unfortunately, the thief didn't defend himself with his sword._

_Predicting the next attack perfectly, the thief stretched a long arm out, grabbing hold of poor Eoleo and ripping him viciously from his father's arms, too quickly for Isaac to realize. His Sol Blade thrust forward at remarkable speed, but the thief matched him move for move, dragging the helpless child before him as though a shield deflecting an arrow. Isaac's Sol Blade tore through the young boy's unseasoned chest, piercing sinew and organ alike, rendering the fear-struck child fatally wounded. Isaac's eyes widened in fear and realization as he looked at Eoleo's young shaking face, his teary, glassy eyes closing and his mouth wordlessly trying to speak one final time. It was not to be._

_The child was forever silenced._

Mia knelt beside Isaac, wrapping her arms around him from behind and resting her head on his shoulder, a single tear leaking from her cerulean eyes. "There wasn't anything you could have done," she whispered softly. "It was an accident." Isaac shook his head, eyes closed and body tense.

"It was preventable. I was careless and stupid," he argued stubbornly, dejected. His voice was rough and bitter, and tainted with despair. He slammed a fist into the dirt, his frustration showing vividly. Mia shook her head and buried it into his shoulder even more. She decided to let him sit, thinking, for a few minutes.

The minutes felt like hours, which in and of themselves felt like seasons unfolding one after the other; changes occurred in them, and yet nothing really changed overall. Isaac would stare at the grave, then lower his head and shudder unhappily. Whenever he seemed truly distressed, Mia would squeeze him a little harder, reassuringly, and he would gather enough strength to look at the tombstone again. Finally, he spoke; softly and not sounding like himself, but he spoke.

"Let's go home," he said simply. Mia squeezed him one more time, then stood and kissed him once he rose. The pair walked hand-in-hand towards Isaac's house. With the exception of Isaac and Mia, it was now devoid of a regular living family as it once had been because of the rampant thefts and attacks that drove most residents away from New Vale, looking for a newer, safer life. That group of people included Isaac's own parents. Whatever became of them was a mystery that not even he knew the answer to. The house was a place of happiness and torment for Isaac; of happiness on account of that it is the only place in which he and Mia could be alone together, where they might shut out the outside world. Though it is also a place of torment, in that it was a reminder of how happy they used to be together, living a happy, peaceful life, not knowing true hardship or distress.

_Used_ to be.

- - - - -

"Here," Picard said, pointing lazily (or perhaps not lazily, just without energy at all) toward the Valean inn. Divinity tilted her head slightly in starting at it.

"Here?" she wondered, curiously.

"Here," Ivan agreed tiredly. "It's late. We've been fighting all night and are extremely fatigued. We need to rest, desperately," he said, Sheba meanwhile noting the large bags under his eyes. "We've already fought through the major rush of the night, so it should be quiet from here on out." Divinity approached the door, but rather than soil her hand with the little-used doorknob, she channeled an aura of Psynergy to tear the door from its hinges and open it for her. The door collapsed inside, and Felix and Garet led her in. Sheba and Jenna took the rear.

"Wait here until tomorrow morning," Felix instructed, in full leader-mode, now. "We'll come back for you and then start working again." Divinity narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips slightly, but said nothing more, resigned to hovering cross-legged in the air with her arms folded over her chest and wings flapping ever so slightly to keep her aloft. The six Adepts walked out of the inn slowly and started walking towards the houses in the northern end of the city. Their feet felt strangely like lead, but they moved still.

"I don't trust her," Jenna said at length. "She's too..._evil_, you know?" Garet frowned.

"How can she be evil?" he wondered. "She's an archangel. She's the embodiment of Justice and whatnot, isn't she?" Ivan nodded, but it was Sheba that replied.

"She may be divine and Justice itself, but _her_ brand of justice and _ours_ are significantly different," she muttered grimly. "Would you kill someone over one theft?" Garet nodded awkwardly.

"No, but... I dunno," he said, his voice reflecting a debate of conscience raging in his mind. "She's... _divine_, though. Doesn't that make her right?"

"Are you going to think she's right when she's killing you?" Picard asked quietly. This caused everyone to stop walking nearly simultaneously, minds working. You could have almost heard the gears turning in their heads. "Eventually, once she realizes that we've all been guilty of something at one time or another, she'll come for us."

"We haven't done anything, though... have we?" Ivan wondered aloud. Felix piped up.

"Haven't we?" he posed. "You killed Saturos and Menardi. We all killed Karst and Agatio. Isaac killed Eo-"

"Don't you _dare_," Jenna threatened, pointing at his chest with a long finger, on the tips of her toes for height and leaning into him, "blame him for that." Felix didn't back down.

"I'm not saying it was on purpose, but it _was his sword_." The torment of the time pitted brother against sister again, for the fourth time this week, the two who once seemed inseparable now at each other's throats. And it was only Monday.

The group settled back and stared off at random vectors, some to the shining night sky, others to the dimly-lit ground, but they all were thinking the same things.

"Oh, Mars," Jenna whimpered. Picard nodded solemnly.

"She's going to kill us..."


	4. Betrayal?

"Isaac. We need to talk to Isaac," Jenna said nervously, fidgeting with the hem of her shirt delicately. "He told us to summon it, he _must_ have had a backup plan, right? He always does." Her gaze moved slowly from the ground, where she had been dejectedly looking, up to the night sky, toward Luna, looking in hope. Maybe, just maybe, someone could cast light on their situation as the benevolent Luna did each night. Felix shook his head.

"It's late. He and Mia probably went home," he commented. "He looked really tired." Garet frowned slightly.

"We could probably catch him... knowing him, he stopped at the graveyard on his way..."

"Shut up, Garet," Felix quipped harshly, not needing to hear those reminders of their past.

"Try and make me," Garet snapped back, his Mars temper in conjunction with the trials of the previous months starting to cut his patience to unheard of lows. Felix's only response was the clenching of his fist, as icy stares from Ivan and Sheba luckily managed to cool off both Adepts before a battle in the ranks was onset. Picard decided to try to pacify both of them.

"Tomorrow morning," he suggested calmly, "we'll go to Isaac's house and talk to him. Divinity is certainly a threat to us all." Ivan nodded his assent.

"Maybe we should leave someone outside the inn for the night, as well," Sheba suddenly suggested. "I don't really trust her all that much..." She rubbed her arm for warmth as a chill breeze slowly picked up. Ivan shook his head, oblivious.

"We summoned her. I don't think she can disobey that kind of order," he replied, his optimism showing again. "She knows who we are and what we've done before," he said, with a faint tinge of pride showing in his voice. "She must have respect for that, she'll wait until tomorrow," he said definitively.

_I hope_, he added to himself, mentally. Sheba looked at him nervously, but didn't say anything, content to teeter on the balls of her feet, silent.

"What if we have to dismiss her?" Jenna wondered softly, referring to the ritual of banishing a summoned creature back to the limbo from which it was originally summoned. "Can we dismiss her?" Garet simply looked at her with bold eyes, though there was fear hidden behind it.

"Do you think she'll let you get close enough?" he asked darkly, the lines under his eyes apparent now in the direct light of Luna. Jenna cringed at the thought of her and the others trying to dismiss the avatar without her trying to remain to punish more of the unjust. Indeed, simply trying to dismiss her might, to Divinity, seem as murder, and thus make them count as unjust all the more.

"Okay, this is the _only_ time you'll ever hear me say this," Jenna warned them all, "but I'm scared." Felix furrowed his brow.

"Jenna admitted she's scared," he said nervously. "We're screwed."

"Shut _up_, Felix," Garet growled ominously. "I'm totally not in the mood right now."

"Fighting in the ranks, not recommended," Picard mumbled. "Patience, gentlemen." Felix's hard moved instinctively to his sword hilt.

"Just try me," he replied darkly to Garet, as though never hearing Picard at all, "and I'll hand you back your own ass in several slices."

"Order, here, order," Picard said, now sounding stressed.

Garet snorted, Picard's words of peace never reaching his ears. "You couldn't come close to-"

"_Enough!_" Picard shouted. "We aren't getting _anywhere_ by fighting each other! The problem here is _Divinity_, not _either_ of you!" he burst, with the patience and sage intelligence of one of his years. Moments passed quietly, as the Adepts avoided each other's gazes, before they barely managed to remember why they were so close in the first place. Silenced and embarrassed, Felix extended his hand and Garet shook it, neither able to look at the other, both ashamed of how deeply they had let life cut them.

"Let's rest," Sheba finally suggested. "It won't do us any good to argue and fight tonight."

"In the morning, we'll be able to think straight," Ivan said levelly, but Sheba could tell that the fighting in their ranks had shaken him a little. They had used to be so close, so tight, so _together_, that it seemed nothing could ever come close to separating them. Now, it just seemed like they were falling farther and farther apart with every day that passed, with every waking moment...

The Adepts retired to their respective homes, the sound of their feet heavy against the dirt pathways. With nary a word to each other, they found whatever houses they had claimed as their own (as many were now available, since so many families had fled or been slain) and entered, some together, as Ivan and Sheba, some alone, as Picard, but all tired and depressed. Garet had passed the graveyard on his way, but to his surprise he didn't see either his best friend or Mia there. Stopping for only a moment to gaze at the significantly large place of the dead, he soon walked on, arriving at his home at the same time as the others had found their way to theirs.

Isaac and Mia were already alone at their house, of course. The pair had taken to embracing each other quietly in the calm of night once the attacks ceased, content to drift off to an uneasy night's slumber fastened only in the other's arms. Sleep did not come easily to either of them, but together, it seemed a little less difficult.

The Adepts retired, one by one, a difficult sleep slowly overcoming them.

And meanwhile, _she_ went out.

- - - - -

It was not a crashing sound, or a shriek, or scream, or even anything disturbingly frightening that awoke Felix the next morning. It was a chirp.

Rising slowly from his bed, Felix found himself gazing out the window, whereupon a tiny baby bluebird could be seen perched, preening its feathers in the morning light. Felix looked at it, a slight smile starting to edge across his features. He stared at it for a few moments, happy just to stare at it for awhile. It reminded him of peace, and of innocence. As soon as the tiny winged creature noticed him, however, it took off startlingly, with a chirp as it soared into the distance. Felix sighed heavily as he moved to dress and head downstairs to eat. It felt like another long day.

As he moved to get food from the kitchen, he heard Jenna approaching from upstairs. He turned to wish her a good morning, but found himself interrupted by a sudden violent pounding at the door.

"Hurry up!" came Ivan's muffled voice. "Open the door!" He sounded stressed, somehow. Felix moved to let them in while Jenna picked up her pace, as well. He opened the door somewhat grumpily.

"What in Venus' name are you doing, trying to tear down my door at this time of day?" he grumbled, musing over his lack of food and his obvious requirement to do something, namely moving toward and opening a door, so early. Looking outside, he found himself face to face with a pair of distraught Jupiter Adepts, as well as Picard.

"Divinity went out again," Sheba said, with an obvious note of tension in her voice. Jenna's eyes widened.

"Again?" she nearly cried. "But we told her to stay!"

"Yeah, the funny thing about that," Picard replied sardonically, "is that _she didn't_." Jenna frowned, more than willing to reply with a biting remark, but Felix was too quick in response.

"Have you gotten the others?" he asked.

"Isaac and Mia are on their way," Ivan answered. "Knowing Garet, we'll hear from him around noon." Jenna growled angrily at the diminutive Adept's lack of respect for her beloved, but said nothing further. "I think Isaac and Mia are going to meet us as the plaza."

"Mia will probably get Garet up on the way with a frigid Douse through his window," Picard commented dryly. Felix rubbed his temple, feeling a headache starting to come already.

"All right, then," he said. "Let's go see our so-called saviour."

- - - - -

"I don't care _what_ they did!" Isaac cried, his voice echoing across the foothills. "You can't just go and _kill_ them!" Divinity's eyes narrowed. Mia noticed that she no longer was content to hover in the air with an unobjective expression on her face, as her once-soft features had now hardened into a menacing scowl.

"They stole, killed and generally broke the law," she argued fiercely. "I _am_the law. I choose the punishment." Isaac eyes narrowed, coldly looking at her with a fierce determination shining in them.

"I don't care about who you are, or what you think about laws and rules," he snapped bitterly, his buried rage starting to surface. "_Here_, in this land, we hold onto whatever we can that salvages our humanity, and whatever keeps us remotely sane!" Divinity's eyes were slits now, glaring at Isaac, but for whatever reason, she refused to argue with him.

"Very well," she relented, her eyes widening a little from the narrow slits she had been gazing at him with, but the scowl still easily visible on her face. The sound of footsteps was heard, and Isaac and Mia turned to see all the others, minus Garet, who was already nearby trying to wring the water from Douse out from his hair, approaching steadily.

"You went out _again?!_" Felix burst as he approached. Divinity grimaced inwardly, saying nothing. "We told you to stay inside until we could accompany you!"

"You needed to rest," she replied levelly. "I did not. It made no sense to let other criminals go by unpunished when I was perfectly able to go after them." Ivan sighed. It looked like Sheba might have been right after all; was Divinity too dangerous?

"All we wanted was for you to stay so we could make sure everything progressed smoothly when you went out," Ivan said calmly. Divinity didn't acknowledge him, instead directing her answer to his question to Isaac.

"And so, because you are fatigued, I should allow those who have committed crimes to go unpunished?" she inquired, annoyed. Her gaze remained fixed on Isaac, though the others were glaring at her, as well. Isaac sighed impatiently, his hand rubbing his arm as though it were sore.

"No," he replied. "Not unpunished, just that you wait before we punish them." Felix frowned.

"And by 'punish', he means by _our_ methods of punishment," Felix answered, to be answered only by yet another heavy scowl from the avatar. "Now let's go. I'm sure there are more people for you to accuse that we can find," he said, looking around the deserted plaza. He and Isaac glanced each other, sorrowed that they might find their once lively town so empty. Then again, it wasn't as though that was a different sorrow than they felt every other day, seeing their town reflect their broken spirits. Infuriated by their state of affairs, and the disobedience of the creature they'd summoned, each turned on their heel in near perfect synchronization, their scarves waving behind them, the tips hovering in the air behind them, wavering up and down, as though the accessories themselves were dismissing the archangel.

She scowled at their impudence, that they might turn their back on her, the being of pure and undiluted Justice. Did they not realize who she was? Did they not realize what she represented? Maybe they just didn't understand. Maybe they were no different than the others. Maybe...

Maybe she would have to judge _them_.


	5. Finality

**This chapter**, while not worthy of an 'R' rating, is definitely dark and _definitely_ tragic. Please read at your own discretion.

- - - - -

She'd waited until they'd reached the plaza. Why, they didn't know. Perhaps they never would, truly. But she now stopped moving, no longer following in the footsteps (or rather, hovering above them) of the leading Venus Adepts. She stopped on a dime, hovering perfectly still in midair. The Adepts behind her stopped curiously, but the two earthen Adepts before her kept going, oblivious to her lack of movement.

"Isaac, wait," Mia called softly. Isaac paused and looked over his shoulder, his dull blue eyes assessing the situation calmly. He caught Felix's eye and nodded toward Divinity. They turned.

"Something the matter?" Felix asked coolly. Divinity's eyes were shut, and a strange aura enveloped her whole body. Ivan and Sheba exchanged looks darkly.

"The first people I judged in this world which you brought me to, I judged here, in this plaza of yours," she stated, scowling though her eyes were closed tightly. "It seemed only fitting that I should use this backdrop to judge you." Isaac flinched visibly. Picard's hand moved ever closer to his sword hilt, the legendary Excalibur itching to be called forth from its scabbard. Garet made a similar motion in regards to his Fire Brand.

"Why must we be judged?" Jenna asked softly, barely able to contain the fear in her voice. Picard noted the seriousness of the situation, that one so bold as Jenna was unable to quell her own fear. They'd seen Divinity's ruthlessness before; she was nothing to take lightly.

"Shouldn't all of humanity be judged?" the avatar replied. "Surely those among you who pass judgment on others should be pure of heart? The foul-hearted shouldn't condemn the evildoers, should they?" Ivan trembled, though he moved his cape before him to disguise it, so he might appear strong.

"Is there even such thing as a perfectly good-hearted being? Could we find one who satisfies that?" he posed, attempting to apply compassion to the archangel's justice. She spread her arms wide.

"I am she whom you seek," she answered. "I am perfectly good-hearted. I am justice, pure and absolute." Her eyes snapped open, and light flickered behind them temporarily, while she glared at him. "Be judged," she said simply, and a beam of white Psynergy extended from her eyes to Ivan's. Unable to stand by doing nothing, Sheba leapt to his side, and the pair, hand in hand, extended a barrier of Juptier Psynergy to defend themselves from the psychic onslaught. A rare grin found itself fleeting over Sheba's face.

"Your powers are derived from our Mind Read abilities," she said. "So as Jupiter Adepts, we have everything it takes to stop you!" With that, she and Ivan extended their powers, channeling more Psynergy into their mystic barrier. Slowly, the wall grew in colour and size, until it was an translucent purple shade, completely blocking off the beam. Ignoring the sounds of legendary swords being unsheathed around her, Divinity's stare toward the Jupiter Adepts increased, if possible, and her eyes seemed to change colour. Ivan blinked. Colour change? Was that possible? It must have been a trick of the light.

No! The beam itself was changing, as well, becoming... yellow! Ivan's heart sunk into his stomach, as he felt it churn unpleasantly. Yellow was the Psynergetical colour of...

"I am all elements!" Divinity cried, increasing the power of her now-earthen assault. "No matter how you defend yourself, I can find my way to you. _You shall be judged!_"

And suddenly, the barrier shattered, with a sound nearly like that of glass, but almost more ethereal, if sound could be described in such terms accurately. Realizing the danger, and willing to protect him at any cost, Sheba shoved Ivan out of the way, taking the brunt of the attack head-on. As it struck her, the light entered her body, shining through every hole in her head it could enter, as her purple eyes faded to a brilliant golden yellow, and then piercing white. Ivan wheeled around and stared in horror as she sunk to her knees, clutching her own head, screaming horribly, the kind of wail that infiltrates nightmares, making them all the more scarring.

And all the while, Divinity was staring at her with the utmost disgust, the scowl she wore mere minutes before even deeper and more loathsome than any of the Adepts had thought possible. "You sicken me," she rumbled, her voice trembling, the first sign of true emotion any of the Adepts had seen in her. "Die."

That was all it took. No more movements, no more words. One word, one _syllable_, and Sheba simply... stopped moving. She made no sound, no moan or cry. The sorcerer simply dropped. She didn't move, the light receded, and Ivan felt himself die with her.

Not literally, of course. He just felt that horrible sinking feeling, that crushing agony when someone you love leaves you. He felt that crippling anguish, and could barely force himself to breathe. He wanted to approach her, to cradle her in his arms, to tell her everything would be all right, just like he had last night. Just like he'd believed would be.

But he was wrong.

And it cost him.

He fell to his knees suddenly. He wanted to move to her, to touch her, but his feet were lead. His body, unwilling to move, simply rocked slowly. He could barely see for the mistiness in his eyes.

Divinity's scowl did not decrease. Oblivious to the pain (or perhaps just with total apathy) of the sole remaining Jupiter Adept, she glared at the other Adepts, her face an impenetrable mask of cold fury.

"And you are all as she was?" she growled. Her lips moved to speak, but nary a word had the time to escape before it was interrupted by a sudden snapping.

It wasn't a snapping sound, however. It wasn't anything audible. In fact, it wasn't even some_thing_ that snapped, it was some_one_.

Felix. Whatever it was about seeing Sheba lay dead on the ground, her body frozen as though in time, caused whatever patience he had left in him to break. The anger he had shown previously toward Garet and his own sister now burst out of him as though water from a dam. His Levatine was in his hand and swinging toward Divinity's head before he knew what hit him.

"_Radiant Fire!_" Felix cried, his Levatine glowing a brilliant red, howling to dig into the avatar. Divinity responded by ducking and strafing left, then leading into Felix's attack with a devastatingly powerful right hook under his guard into his gut. Felix spun in midair and collapsed to the dirt, winded. Divinity's eyes glowed again, and that beam, that same horrible beam, shot toward the grounded Adept. Felix didn't have time to move. It enveloped him in a shining white light, and Felix cringed against the ground, squirming and moaning. His hand slowly rose to grasp his head, but he was dead before it made it there. Jenna's lip shook and she fell into Garet, unable to support herself.

A stunned silence fell over the remaining Adepts. Isaac's hands trembled, and Mia wavered on her feet, wondering if it was possible to heal them. Her heart ached to answer yes, but her healer's instincts had already answered no. Grasping Isaac's arm tightly to steady herself, she stared over the field with intense sorrow burning in her eyes.

Divinity turned to the pair, her mind prepared to probe theirs, as well, when a sudden Psynergetical assault dropped her to the ground. A trio of purple swords had knocked her down, though none winded her or harmed her in the slightest. Picard's Excalibur ceased howling, having just completed a Legend attack. The being of Justice turned on him.

"Why do you strike me down?" she exclaimed, throwing herself at him. She turned over and over in midair, gathering speed, until she swatted at him with one of her long wings, hitting a blade prepared to parry. The force of the attack knocked the blade from Picard's capable hands, though the defensive position in which it was held kept him from any harm. Quick as a wink, she shot a hand out to grasp him around the neck, but Picard was older and more experienced than any of the others, and he raised an arm to deflect her attempt, though with some difficulty due to the incarnation's intense speed. "Are you angered that I have slain someone whom you intended for me to kill? Or are you angered that I have slain someone whom you hadn't realized must die?" Picard didn't answer her.

"Help me!" he called to his comrades. Ivan was still too shocked to do anything, being the youngest of them all. Though he was the wisest sometimes, this was too much for him to bear. The Mars Adepts were useless as well. Jenna was leaning into Garet, weeping. Though a horrible time to break down, Picard was certain that the loss of her brother had her wondering why _she_ should go on. He couldn't blame her.

Thankfully, his plea for help didn't fall on deaf ears. Isaac and Mia were both able to leap into the fray, Isaac's Sol Blade at the ready and the legendary healer's staff, Clotho's Distaff, resting in Mia's skillful hands. Mia, as usual, stayed at a distance from the enemy, prepared to jump in and heal at a moment's notice. In the meanwhile, Picard had reclaimed his blade, and he and Isaac were swinging at Divinity, tooth and nail, from opposing sides.

They may as well have been trying to hit lightning with a stick.

Every move the pair made, Divinity was in the exact position to dodge, even though there was always one attack coming that she could not see, being only able to see one Adept at a time. If Isaac slashed laterally and Picard from above, she somehow squeezed herself into a narrow crack that granted solace from sharpened metal. Finally, after an eternity of dodging, she grabbed Isaac's outstretched wrist and used the Sol Blade to parry Picard's Excalibur.

"Why do you try to kill me?" she questioned the ancient Lemurian after a few more unsuccessful attempts. Metal hitting metal, the only answer. "Did you not want me to protect you from those that have done wrong?" Metal hitting metal, again. "Is that not what I have done? Slain the guilty?" Metal hitting metal, more furiously with each blow. "Very well, if you shall not be deterred..." She kicked out at Picard, savagely, sending him sprawling against the ground. Still clutching Isaac's wrist, she swing the Sol Blade around, crying, "_Megiddo_." No more words were needed. The conjured meteor of the coveted blade smashed Picard into the ground, until a small explosion sounded off, and the man's limp body littered a small crater adorning the plaza ground.

Undeterred, Isaac pulled Divinity behind him, so that he stood between her and Picard's body. "Mia!" he cried to his pain-wracked beloved. In the distance he heard a fresh wail from Jenna, but forced himself to ignore her for the time being. "Revive him! I don't think it's too late!" Mia glanced over Picard's body. The irreversible death brought about by Divinity's judging actions was not seen in her use of physical weapons. He _could_ be revived, but...

"I can't revive him!" Mia cried. "I don't have revival Psynergy, _you_ do! Felix... did..." Her voice broke, but she didn't break down.

"Then use Dew!" Isaac cried. "Use Balm! Use _something!_" he reasoned. Mia would have slapped her forehead if she'd had the energy. Divinity's calculating eyes took this information in, and she noted Mia swiftly moving over to Picard to work. With one deft motion, she grabbed Isaac by the scarf, nearly choking him, and swung him over her head, sending him crashing into Jenna and Garet. Her eyes glowed and she stared at Mia, the hapless healer not realizing what was going on until it was too late.

The accursed beam of judgment struck her squarely in the chest, enshrouding her. With a final, horrible screech, the gentle healer was dead to the world. Though he still drew breath, so was Isaac. No tears escaped his lips, but his words now became rough, ragged, uncaring. His body moved, but his heart became turned off, as though it were a switch to be toggled.

This was all too much for the Mars Adepts. Finally, Jenna was able to move. Rising from the struggling bodies of her love and Isaac, her hair covered her eyes and her fists were tightly clenched, lending her trembling, slightly crimson-glowing body an eerily frightening visual that would have scared anyone mortal. With her Psynergy prepared to run wild and her heart already in shattered pieces, the Mars Adept was ready to fight.

"Get up," Isaac groaned to his best friend hoarsely. Not a word escaped Garet's lips by way of response, no quip or joke, but he simply rose and prepared to defend Jenna. Isaac's eyes fell over Ivan, who was slowly rising, his fists clenched and jaw set. He was determined as well.

Divinity looked, almost casually, at Jenna, although it was plain to see that despite her calmness the archangel was still inwardly enraged. Divinity opened her mouth to speak, and promptly shut it after a small shooting fireball was projected down it. Jenna's hand cooled.

"...don't..." she mumbled. "I don't want... to hear it..." Divinity frowned.

"Stupid child," she chided her. "You don't have a choi-"

"_Pyroclasm!_" A great fire exploded around Divinity. Strangely, the archangel reacted, raising a hand to her arm, rubbing it. With tears now openly flowing down her cheeks, Jenna sent everything she could call forth, everything she could muster toward the impartial being.

"_Core!"_ A shining djinni appeared in the sky, covered by a spherical Mars cannonball. It launched at Divinity. Divinity coughed.

"_Cannon!" _The heat and passion of Mars gathered to a djinni at Jenna's feet. Thrusting itself forward, it buried itself into Divinity's torso and exploded. She took a step back.

"_Shine!" _A brilliant djinni burst onto the scene, dancing around Divinity, waiting for an opening. The moment she let her guard down, Shine attacked, dealing a powerful blow to the small of Divinity's back. She stretched.

"_Char!"_ A floating djinni over Jenna's head blew burning embers over the embodiment. The embers stung painfully (or at least, they _should_ have) across her body. When the attack subsided, Divinity looked herself over. Some of the feathers on her wings were alight with flame. Jenna had damaged her, but she wasn't ready to stop!

"_Meteor!_" she cried out, her hands extended to sky. Isaac nodded at Garet, and both attacked in concert to try and optimize their chance for damage.

"_Purgatory!_" Garet cried, encircling Divinity in flames from his Fire Brand.

"_Megiddo!_"

With a flurry of fire below and twin meteors from above, such an explosion rocked the earth that even Ivan finally looked up. Dust and debris flew momentarily, but when it subsided, Divinity looked almost normal, save for one thing. Her wings were blazing with fire! She _almost_ looked pained.

"I am..." she replied, looking over the heavily breathing Jenna, eyes cold. "...unimpressed." Taking to the sky, she spread her burning wings wide and then suddenly snapped them forward. Flaming pinpoints of Psynergy shot forward like arrows toward Jenna. The pinpricks cut through whatever they hit, living or otherwise, until they were all embedded in the ground, smouldering. Jenna collapsed, dead, having been run through by hundreds of tiny, flaming needles. Garet let out a war cry and charged, swinging his Fire Brand haphazardly, carelessly, apathetically for whatever might get in his way. What got in his way was not Divinity. In fact, it wasn't anything. Blinded by rage, he ran right past the nimble Divinity, who dodged the charged Mars Adept simply. She cast her beam of judgment, and Garet fell, stunned, to the earth, Isaac ran at Divinity, hoping to interrupt the Psynergy, but the attack was too far underway, and Garet succumbed, his hand, as a dying motion, outstretched to Jenna's limp body as though to touch her one last time. It was never to be.

Ivan's mouth was working wordlessly, mouthing the word "why" over and over again. Isaac shouted at him, trying to tell him something, but Ivan couldn't hear him. Isaac's words were lost on the poor Jupiter Adept.

His Sol Blade swinging again and again, a stoic expression on his unchanging face, Isaac attacked again and again, fighting with everything he had, desperate to avenge his friends, his love! He channeled all his energy into fighting as best as he could. His sadness so strong that he could not bring himself to weep, he emotionlessly pushed on at Divinity, pushing her back. Alternating between Quake attacks, sword swings and other Psynergetical obstacles meant to hinder the Avatar of Justice, his only thought was focused on one objective:

Find the opening, slash, split her in two. Then it ends, at last. After everything, after his friends, after Eoleo... after Mia.

...after the pain...

Find the opening, slash, split her in two.

Find the opening, slash...

...split her in two!

His wish came true. Just not how he'd hoped.

Divinity caught his wrist as he slashed, using her other hand to apply pressure to the wrist at a pressure point. Isaac cringed and dropped the Sol Blade, but grabbed her arm with his free hand so she couldn't get any advantage too quickly. She quickly snatched the sword up with her free hand before it'd even hit the ground. Spinning around to break Isaac's grip, she swing powerfully and laterally, tearing through the poor blonde Venus Adept's body. Isaac swallowed dryly.

"So this is what you felt... Eoleo..." he sighed sadly, finally allowing a single shining tear to escape his eye. "...sorry... Mia..."

His yellow scarf drifted to the ground into two pieces. Call it symbolism.

Ivan stared with wide eyes. All of his friends were now slain around him. As Divinity approached him with cold eyes and Sol Blade in had, he only had the emotional energy to ask, "Why?" He choked. "...we saved the world... I thought saving the world was worth something..."

Divinity looked calm, almost motherly for a moment, as though explaining right from wrong to a little child.

"Saving the world is worth something... only if it is a world worth saving." Ivan choked back tears, staring at Sheba's body, while Divinity looked over him, pressing her point into his mind, every word a dagger to his heart. "How many monsters did you kill to 'save' this world? How many items lying around in barrels or houses did you take, that weren't yours? Did you even try to save that poor girl who was turned into a tree at the riverside by Tret before she drowned? Did you warn the competitors at Colosso that Isaac had Psynergy, an unfair advantage? Did you shun all cursed equipment when you found it, or did you give in and use some because of the power boost they offered? Did you peer into the minds of people you met, ignoring their right to privacy? Did you wait to hear the negative consequences of lighting the lighthouses from the Lemurian elders?

"Did you take every opportunity to save Saturos? Menardi? Karst or Agatio? Do you bear hatred against Alex, if he lives?" Ivan lowered his head shamefully. When she put it like that...

He closed his eyes. "Can't the ends..."

"...justify the means?" she finished. "You tell me."

Ivan would not open his eyes again.

- - - - -

Even now, the Avatar of Justice, Divinity the Archangel, roams the land of Weyard, searching for the pure and slaying those who have committed wrong against another. What are the odds of the world being saved?

The same as those of finding humans who are perfect, good and pure.

Perfection is impossible.


End file.
